CARES Meets with New District 100 Superintendent

Recently, Dr. Stanley Fields was named the new Superintendent of South Berwyn District 100. On Friday, August 22, CARES members met with Stan regarding our concerns with the district, the various achievement gaps that exist within the district and the importance of establishing high expectations for all students. It is our hope and desire that Dr. Fields will lead District 100 to become a national example of a world-class educational system for a diverse population.

The following concerns were expressed by CARES to Dr. Fields:

• That 65% of Illinois elementary and high schools rank ABOVE the District 100 average on standardized testing
• That only two District 100 schools, Emerson, at the 40th percentile, and Irving, at the 47th percentile, rank in the top half of Illinois schools
• That while 77% of District 100 students meet or exceed expectations, 23% do not
• That while our district is proficient in helping students achieve mediocre test results, defined on the ISAT tests as “meeting expectations”, our district is not proficient in helping students achieve excellence, defined on the ISAT tests as “exceeding expectations”
• That 53% fewer District 100 Latino reading students exceed expectations than their White counterparts
• That 36% fewer Latino math students exceed expectations than their White counterparts

It was also communicated to Dr. Fields that the mentality “we’re doing well given our demographics” be abolished from Berwyn’s lexicon, and that we provide a world-class education for all students, regardless of race, color or creed. This bias hurts the district in two ways: we end up expecting less of the children that fall into “that demographic” (whatever that may be!) and drive young families away from Berwyn who fear that the culture of modest expectations will diminish their children’s educational experiences.

To provide the world-class education we all want for the children of Berwyn, CARES members suggested revisiting some of the recommendations offered by the strategic planning committees that met last year. Included in those recommendations are proposals for serving more children through early childhood education services, including offering full-day kindergarten. Research indicates that starting early is a wise strategy, as studies show that the achievement gap between children of color and their non-minority peers is already in place when children start kindergarten.

The importance of outreach efforts to engage Berwyn families in the education system was also discussed. Support for parent engagement was a part of last year’s strategic planning recommendations, and CARES echoed the need for meaningful and effective systems of communication with families. Members encouraged the Superintendent not to fall victim to the misplaced idea that minority or lower-income families do not value education or want to participate in their children’s education. In fact, research shows that all parents are concerned with their children’s education, and their involvement helps to raise student achievement, regardless of parents’ own educational attainment or academic success. (for research on parent involvement, see the report Building trust with schools and diverse families at http://www.nwrel.org/request/2003dec/trust.pdf).

It is our greatest hope that Dr. Stan Fields, along with Mr. John Belmont at District 98 and the administration at District 201, will be able to lead the Berwyn education systems to excellence. CARES supports their efforts to raise expectations for all Berwyn students.